See which parts of BC are seeing rising real estate prices and sales
The number of home sales and the average price of a home are falling in B.C., but not all parts of the province are feeling the same pain.
On Monday, the British Columbia Real Estate Association released numbers for December and the year that showed a drop in the number of sales, sales dollar volume and the average residential price. But most of that drop occurred in Metro Vancouver, while some areas of the province saw growth.
“The provincial numbers have been dragged down by Vancouver and the Fraser Valley in 2012 to a large degree and by Victoria and the Island,” BCREA chief economist Cameron Muir said. “That belies the fact that we did see sales up in the North. The North has done quite well in this post-recession period — pricing is quite strong and sales activity hasn’t seen the kind of volatility that we’ve seen in other markets.”
Muir also cited the Okanagan as showing some growth in sales in 2012, after remaining quite flat after the recession ended.
“So there is some glimmer of light in the Okanagan, and the Kootenays, which are benefiting from improved economic conditions in Alberta,” Muir said.
For the province as a whole, the number of sales dropped 11.8 per cent in 2012 from 2011, while the total sales dollar volume fell 19.1 per cent and the average residential price was $514,836, down 8.3 per cent from the year before.
“A notable pullback in consumer demand in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley during 2012 was more than enough to offset increases in home sales in the Okanagan, Kootenays and B.C. Northern regions,” Muir said. “At least half of the eight-per-cent decline in the B.C. average home price was the result of fewer luxury homes selling in Vancouver and fewer overall Vancouver home sales relative to the rest of the province in 2012.”
In Metro Vancouver, the number of sales dropped 22.7 per cent in 2012 from 2011, while the total sales dollar volume fell 27.7 per cent and the average residential price was $730,063, down 6.4 per cent from the year before.
But as Muir mentioned, there were some areas showing growth, including Kelowna (Okanagan Mainline), where the number of sales grew 11.8 per cent in 2012 from 2011, the total sales dollar volume rose 11.2 per cent and the average residential price was $377,979, up 0.5 per cent from the year before.
Another area with positive numbers in all categories is northern B.C., where the number of sales rose 3.9 per cent in 2012 from 2011, while the total sales dollar volume rose 10.8 per cent and the average residential price was $233,544, up 6.6 per cent from the year before.
Kamloops and Kootenay also showed small growth in all three categories.
For the month of December 2012, sales dollar volume for the province was down 28.6 per cent compared to December 2011, while the number of units sold fell 26.4 per cent and the average price was down three per cent to $498,205.
Source: Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver Sun
